STORRS – Louisville ripped UConn apart at the seams shortly after the Huskies seemed to get themselves righted early in the second half Saturday night.

Not long after that, UConn coach Kevin Ollie came apart completely and loudly as a raucous, sold-out crowd of 10,167 at Gampel Pavilion alternately cheered wildly and booed.

It did nothing to help the Huskies, who failed to follow up a huge victory at Memphis with a 76-64 defeat against the 18th-ranked Cardinals. Ollie was fired up beyond belief, but his team was extinguished by Louisville's defense and its punishing interior game.

All of which might be forgotten because of the craziness that took place seven minutes into the second half.

With 13:02 left in the game and UConn trailing 47-38, Ollie lost it, was hit with two quick technical fouls by referee Mike Stuart and was ejected. Ollie was incensed when Niels Giffey drew contact from an out-of-control Wayne Blackshear on a 3-point shot and no foul was called. Ollie came rushing down the UConn bench toward the baseline to let Stuart know how he felt.

The two won't be exchanging pleasantries any time soon.

“I lost my composure,” Ollie said. “I told my guys that in the heat of the moment you can't lose your composure. I did that. We're going to move on from it and get back to playing good basketball.”

In a statement to a pool reporter afterward, Stuart said Ollie drew the technicals for running down the sideline and then going on the floor to protest the call.

Ollie had to be restrained by director of basketball administration Kevin Freeman, but he didn't leave the court quietly. He meandered across center court and toward the media table, where he continued to scream at official Ted Valentine. Valentine stood with his arms crossed and back toward Ollie.

The officiating was questionable throughout, but it was hardly the reason UConn lost. Louisville (16-3, 5-1 American Athletic Conference) was the reason for that, with a huge assist from the Huskies (14-4, 2-3). The Cardinals were just better, stronger and more composed.

Montrezl Harrell had his way with the Huskies in the paint and the Cardinals destroyed UConn in the rebounding department. Harrell finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds, doing much of his damage in a first half that set the tone. Louisville outrebounded the Huskies, 45-30, breaking UConn's string of three straight games during which it won the rebounding battle.

“Montrezl did pretty much what he wanted to down there,” Ollie said. “It's not like they had Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabar out there. We have to do a better job.”

UConn tried to battle back, ripping off a 6-0 run to start the second half and tie the game at 34-34. But Louisville struck right back with an 11-0 run that ended just more than a minute before Ollie got the heave-ho.

The Huskies, who saw a three-game winning streak broken, tried to get back into it. A Shabazz Napier 3-pointer made the score 67-60 with 2:39 to play, but UConn couldn't get the rebounds and stops needed to complete the comeback after trailing by as many as 16 points.

A potential resume-enhancing win went by the wayside, and Ollie watched the end of it from somewhere other than the bench.

“We just told him we appreciate him for saying the things we really couldn't say,” said guard Ryan Boatright, who will head to Chicago today for his cousin's funeral. His return for Tuesday night's game against Temple is not certain. “He showed our emotions on how frustrated we were not getting those calls.”

Napier finished with a career-best 30 points, 19 of them in the second. Boatright had 10 points but suffered through a 4-for-14 shooting night. The offensive flow UConn displayed against Memphis wasn't there, hurt by the fact that DeAndre Daniels sat out the last 14 minutes of the first half with foul trouble. Daniels followed his 23-point, 11-rebound game against Memphis with just three points and four rebounds.

The Huskies were just overpowered by the Cardinals and lost to Louisville for the sixth time in the last seven meetings. Ollie was just overpowered by his emotions.

“I just thought it was a foul,” Ollie said. “(Giffey) went up and got hit. Shabazz did the same thing later on and they called a foul. It happens.

“I've seen the replay. I think I jumped up and down a little bit and sprinted down the court. I don't know if it was warranted or not warranted. They gave me the first (technical foul) and I didn't have a chance to do anything and the second one came.”

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